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November 1-2, 1973 King's Hall, Manchester, ENG
(1st) Set List: I Can't Explain Summertime Blues My Generation I Am The Sea The Real Me The Punk And The Godfather I'm One Helpless Dancer 5.15 Sea And Sand Drowned Bell Boy Doctor Jimmy The Rock Love Reign O'er Me Pinball Wizard See Me Feel Me Won't Get Fooled Again Magic Bus Allright Now The Who got into their stride with the third song, a good fierce version of 'My Generation' which had an extended solo. Townshend then said: "We'd like to do something from the forthcoming album now... We were expecting the album to be out and in your possession by now, but of course it isn't. The Japanese have bought up all the plastic and this album doesn't need too much explanation 'cause it's about everybody here, I'm sure. Though the way you're behaving, it's outrageous! A young, screwed-up, frustrated, idiotic teenager. Like us! I feel like a teenager. Watch this..." Pete then did a cartwheel across the stage. "This is an album called Quadrophenia," he continued, "and it's the story about a kid who goes down to the rock in the middle of the sea and looks back on a couple of weeks when he leaves home and a few backwardly nostalgic glimpses... Anyway, it starts off with the sound of the mighty sea. In quadrophonic. So open up your three left ears and experience quadrophonic for the first time." The atmospheric 'I Am The Sea' was relayed entirely from tapes. After an energetic 'The Real Me', Townshend attempted to tune his guitar to the impatience of the audience, who had begun to chant. Over the riff of 'Punk And The Godfather' Pete yelled "shut up!" Daltrey and Townshend sang alternate verses on 'I'm One' and Daltrey explained the plot a little before introducing 'Helpless Dancer' as Quadrophenia's political song. This unusual number - unlike any other the band had done on stage - was sung as a round with Roger, Pete and John taking a line each over the backing tape of piano. '5.15' was a powerful performance and 'Sea And Sand' incorporated lines from the High Numbers' 'I'm The Face' along with various seagull cries on tape. Although the album had yet to be released, the audience keenly anticipated 'Bell Boy' and called out for this song. Some joking and insane banter preceded 'Drowned', which featured a lengthy guitar solo. Daltrey then said: "If you had the bloody record you'd all know the story. That's the trouble. He doesn't drown himself, the water's too cold. So he goes to an hotel... and he sees this geezer who used to be the gang leader... and now he's a bloody bell boy in a hotel. This of course is another huge shock to his system. He cannot really get that one together at all, especially as the bell boy is played by Mr Keith Moon." This provoked great applause, prompting Pete to say: "Wait till after he's sung. You wait till you hear his singing voice, and you'll regret that ovation! He is fucking great actually..." 'Bell Boy' commenced with Pete shouting "go!" and the band managed to play very tightly with the backing tape, likewise with the following 'Dr. Jimmy' which was linked to 'The Rock' with another quadrophonic effects tape of the sea, much longer than the link on the LP. 'Love Reign O'er Me' was notable for Daltrey's impassioned vocals. The second version of 'My Generation' served to frame Quadrophenia in a perspective of The Who's history. The song broke down into a sparse jam and concluded with a new hard rock riff played by Townshend and Entwistle. This lasted only a few bars and worked into the introduction to 'Pinball Wizard'. During 'See Me, Feel Me', Daltrey stopped singing entirely for a while to allow the audience to join in, a rare practice at Who concerts, prompted here by the guitar momentarily cutting out. A strong version of 'Won't Get Fooled Again' was followed by Townshend saying: "We're gonna play now for you, something you've wanted us to play... I'll tell you what, let's do a test... The first person to break the silence with a number you want us to play - we'll play it!" The crowd then collectively roared a plethora of titles towards the stage, after which Townshend announced that the winner was 'Magic Bus'. A 15-minute version of the song followed, one of the best they ever played: very loose, hypnotic and insistent but with much vocal and guitar improvisation. The riff finally worked itself into an impromptu version of 'All Right Now', the Free song which the band had favoured in 1970. Overall, this show was most successful. (2nd) Set List: I Can't Explain Summertime Blues My Generation I Am The Sea The Real Me The Punk And The Godfather I'm One Helpless Dancer 5.15 Sea And Sand Drowned Bell Boy Doctor Jimmy The Rock Love Reign O'er Me Pinball Wizard See Me Feel Me Won't Get Fooled Again Magic Bus The two nights in Manchester saw The Who playing for the first time at the 5,000-seat Kings Hall within the Belle Vue amusement park. Unlike the other members of the band, Keith Moon was no stranger to the venue. He had played at Belle Vue earlier in the year as drummer in the fictitious group The Stray Cats while filming Stardust, starring David Essex. This was the largest capacity venue on the whole tour, and a demand for tickets throughout meant that many fans were left disappointed. The next day, November 3, The Who released Quadrophenia. A conceptual storyline album told in song-cycle, Quadrophenia is the tale of Jimmy Cooper the Mod, based on 'Irish' Jack Lyons, an old Mod-friend from Shepherd's Bush, Goldhawk Club regular and the co-author of this book. Within The Who only Pete was a true Mod. He believed in the style and sometimes led that style to the letter. What he may not have realised was that he was regarded by most West London Mods as a leading face. Having received rave reviews in the music press Quadrophenia became The Who's third biggest selling album, reaching the number 2 spot both in the US and the UK.